Americans seem rather confused when it comes to the issue of religion and politics.

At least that appears to be the case from survey results on the role of religion in the 2010 election. The good news is, most Americans didn’t vote based on their religious views. The bad news is, many Americans are strangely preoccupied with President Barack Obama’s faith and that plays a role in whether they like him or not. Read more

Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives in January. Now comes the hard part: figuring out how to govern.

U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), whom everybody acknowledges will be the next House majority leader, has issued a list of 22 proposals he would like to see enacted. Some of them are legislative in nature (such as repealing the health-care bill) and others concern the internal workings of the House. Read more

Kenyn Cureton is worried that you might be. Cureton is vice president for church ministries for the Family Research Council. During the FRC’s recent “Values Voter Summit,” he warned attendees at a breakout session on churches and politics to be ready for some intense action.

“The battle that we’re fighting,” he said, “is not just a political and cultural battle, it’s a spiritual battle.”

And when a battle is spiritual, you can be sure that some people are serving the wrong side. Read more

This weekend, Religious Right groups will kickoff election season by holding the first in a series of rallies, conferences and other events to stir up their base and turn out the vote in November.

On Sept. 3-4, Lou Engle, the raspy-voiced founder of the neo-Pentecostal group TheCall, will lead the initial event in Sacramento. “Faithful Christians” will gather to pray for the “sanctity of life,” the “sacredness of marriage,” and the “preservation of religious liberty.” Read more

It’s not often we hear much church-state news from Hawaii, but today is the exception.

The head of the Hawaii Republican Party has taken it upon himself to send out an e-mail warning pastors that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mufi Hannemann is “not righteous.”

Hannemann’s campaign has been looking to visit churches across the state, and Hawaii GOP head Jonah Kaauwai believes any church that allows him to speak will in effect be furthering “unrighteousness.” Read more

Earlier this week, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed a bill that would have created civil unions in the state.

In her veto message, Lingle talked about how she agonized over the decision. She said she has always opposed extending marriage rights to same-sex couples and concluded that this bill was essentially marriage under another guise. Read more

An interesting documentary is opening in some major cities this weekend, and if you get the chance, I’d suggest that you check it out.

Titled “8: The Mormon Proposition,” the film examines the role the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) played in helping pass Proposition 8 in California, which repealed marriage equality for same-sex couples. Read more